The Best Way to Learn a Foreign Language

I remember when my oldest first wanted to learn Chinese. I said, “No way. I don’t speak Chinese.” I speak German, but there was no way my oldest wanted to learn that one. We tried to encourage French, maybe Spanish since my husband and I remember a bit of both. Yet, my son would not be moved and no matter how we tried to encourage and convince, he was not going to be moved. It was Chinese or bust! Almost two years later, my son is able to send letters to his grandparents, in Chinese even, and enjoys at least a basic vocabulary.

Since then I have met many other families who want to teach their children a foreign language but are overwhelmed. They do not speak the language and so, perhaps it seems a bit impossible. Is that how you feel? I know I did. So, I want to share with you a couple of tips on how to really make the learning a foreign language experience a not so scary one. Maybe your child’s interest will help encourage the whole family to learn together?

To begin, of course the experience must be fun. So, in all things try to keep the learning fun, something that everyone enjoys. In fact, bit of silliness will take you a long way! Since learning a language doesn’t happen overnight too, you must be patient and always positive.

There is an excellent book, The Bilingual Edge, that helps guide parents as to what resources simply do not work. They especially warn against materials like:

Foreign TV

Language DVD’s

Talking Toys

Many software programs

The fact is there are too many materials out there, all of which promise success and to quote the book above:

“Many promises end in disappointment – in part because these products and programs are unfortunately not based how children actually learn languages.”

It’s surprising right? I always thought that all those toys and videos were a big help. If they are not then what is there? I know many years ago my son had a couple language learning toys, mostly electronic and all those cute videos too! Nothing against Ni Hao and Diego (we still watch them when we can), but they cannot be the main method we rely on to teach our kids.

Its not rocket science, really, but the best way to learn a foreign language is…

Interaction with Others

You can learn together as a family, just mom and daughter or dad and son; maybe you could find some folks in the area who are also learning, or know the language and are willing to encourage you all in your journey. Learning a foreign language needs to be personal and you need opportunities to use it regularly. It doesn’t matter how bad you are, just do it. After all, learning is a process.

Our family has hosted many foreign exchange students and we have always found that most the students that come here take every opportunity to use the language (full immersion) and they do amazingly well. We have also had some with very poor language skills and they are always quiet, only using the language when they must.

As with anything we must exercise our abilities if want to be able to do them well. Incorporate foreign language learning into your everyday routines: naming food by their foreign name, singing silly songs, greeting one another; find some picture books (Usbourne’s First Thousand Words in Chinese, label things in the home with their foreign name, etc.

There are even games out there that can help encourage the skills needed; games like Kloo (for French and Spanish); you race to Madrid or Paris by learning words and making sentences! Believe it or not its color code system means you can start making sentences in French or Spanish within 30 seconds – even if you’re an absolute beginner!

Learning a language is a big deal. We want it to be fun, but we have to remember that in order to really progress it has to be more than just a thing we do a few times a week, for a half an hour. We need to immerse ourselves in it. Throughout the day, be creative, find opportunities to use what you are learning and have fun!

Comments

My family lives in China and my husband teaches English in a high school. We interact quite a lot on both ends of the language learning – Chinese speakers learning English and we ourselves learning Chinese. I agree with everything above except the advice against using television/movies. Time and time again when we meet Chinese students with REALLY GOOD English the one thing they almost all have in common is that they love to watch British or American media. Their pronunciation is better, their grammar is better, and their idiom usage is better. A way to use media that is simple for kids that can read is to show them a movie they’ve seen (Disney or something) in the language they are learning. First with English subtitles then work toward using the languages subtitles (if they are learning to read in the language – a little trickier for character-based languages). There is a media player program you can download called VLC. With this you have the option of playing the video at a slightly slower speed. My husband and I find that playing something at 90% speed helps us a lot with comprehension. I would not recommend using language learning media (shows or computer programs that are mostly in English with some foreign language thrown in.) But using age appropriate TV/movies that are actually in the foreign language can be a great tool especially if you don’t have access to learning from a native speaker. My son is 2 1/2 and rarely watches TV but when he gets to it’s usually in Chinese. 熊出没 (xiongchumo) and 喜羊羊 (xiyangyang) are two very popular kids shows here. I find them strange and a little annoying (Chinese and American humor are not the same) and I’m not endorsing them whole-heartedly (we don’t even have a TV and we’re kind of picky) but the language used is simple because it’s for kids. My husband mostly enjoys xiyangyang and we both like 家有儿女(jiayouernu) which is a family sitcom with an age target of late elementary up. It’s a little harder to follow because the language is more advanced but it’s formulaic and about family situations that we can understand.

Thank you for sharing! That is definitely something I never considered. We actually hosted exchange students from China; maybe it was a unique situation with us but we were surprised by how basic their English skills were. It was a very challenging (but fun!) year for all of us trying to communicate. And they watched a lot of television while they were here. I will have to see if I can find those shows online for my son to watch though! I definitely see a benefit, as you say, in them learning the language from “real life”. And definitely learning in a way that we can all relate to and understand. 🙂

My youngest daughters are from China, and we have the Dino Lingo set, Little Pim, Chinese books (including the Usborne one), Chinese blocks, etc. My 8 year old was working on Middlebury Interactive Languages for a while. I would like them to have at least some familiarity with Mandarin so that when we go back to visit, they’re able to speak a little bit.

We love Little Pim – my oldest thinks the Chinese is too “little kid” for him but my younger son thinks its great and my daughter uses it for French and German. We did MIddlebury too last year – their course was great – I wished they had slowed down the speech parts though to help with pronunciation. Pimselur is what we are using for Chinese with our son right now. Books and music and videos are great helps too; some things (especially for little ones) I think they learn best in song even. My daughter has learned so much just from sing along programs 🙂

Hallo there Jeniffer, nice guide there. I haven’t read the Bilingual edge book before but it’s something that I will be definitely going for. I am curious and eager to see some of the reasons why it discourages the use of things like foreign TV programs. It’s not like I recommend TV programs as a source of first hand learning but its good when you are reminding yourself and for fluency purposes. Don’t know what you think about that.

Hi Cindy, I think that using all things in moderation is key throughout our homeschooling journeys. My kids love Duolingo right now, but I know that the app alone is not going to give them the quality foreign language education that I want them to have. I do not discourage them using it, but I do not use it alone. TV programs can certainly be used in the same manner, as an added resource not a stand alone homeschool program. <3